Six countries within the Greater Mekong region are working together to create three economic corridors, with a so-called southern corridor linking Cambodia to Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

The other countries of the region, Burma and China, link with the other four in two other corridors, and Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh told a forum last week Cambodia had gained little so far from the southern corridor.

“Compared to other corridors, we see that they are working faster than ours,” he said. “It means we are working slower than others.”

With financial and technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank, the six Mekong countries have agreed to cooperate with each other to turn the three corridors into economic hubs. The countries will improve transportation facilities, tourism, hydropower and disease control, under a deadline of 2020.